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OBIS and GBIF renew their partnership to better support conservation efforts for a healthier ocean
23 October 2025
The OBIS-GBIF joint forces at Living Data 2025! Photo: Living Data 2025
At Datos Vivos/Living Data 2025 in Bogota, Colombia, The Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS, under the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO) and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) have renewed their partnership, signing a Letter of Agreement and reconfirming their Joint Strategy for Marine Biodiversity Data (2025–2030). This agreement supports their joint commitment to make marine biodiversity data more interoperable, accessible, and actionable for science and decision-making, from local to global scales. The cooperation between OBIS and GBIF originated over two decades ago. OBIS has been an associate member of GBIF since 2001, under the Census of Marine Life. OBIS and GBIF signed a first Letter of Agreement in 2014, and under this second renewal will continue to align efforts in two key areas: technical cooperation as well as community and capacity development.
“OBIS is delighted to renew its commitment to working alongside GBIF,” said Dan Lear, OBIS Co-Chair. “Our two organisations share a vision of ensuring free and globally open access to high-quality marine biodiversity data to advance science, support evidence-based decision-making and management for the benefit of all. This renewed agreement paves the way for closer collaboration, shared capacity development, and greater data availability.”
Together, the two organisations will continue to advance interoperability standards, data exchange protocols, and the development of shared tools to enhance data integration, visualization, and user access. Beyond technology, the partnership encourages closer collaboration between OBIS Nodes and GBIF Nodes through joint training, harmonised documentation, and shared community engagement initiatives to deliver local impact and increase local data mobilization.
“The renewal of our partnership with OBIS strengthens our shared commitment to ensuring that marine biodiversity data are open, interoperable and accessible for science and policy,” said Joe Miller, GBIF Executive Secretary. “Together we will continue to align our networks and expertise to support global efforts under the UN Ocean Decade and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.”
The OBIS-GBIF joint strategy sustains a shared vision centered around two strategic objectives for 2030. First, to ensure that the best available, fit-for-purpose, marine biodiversity data is accessible to relevant end users and respect the FAIR and CARE principles. This data is crucial to support states in defining, monitoring, and achieving their goals and targets under global biodiversity and ocean governance frameworks, as well as UN-led global programmes and projects. Second, OBIS and GBIF will also deploy efforts to secure long-term data preservation, resilience and the ongoing sustainable operation of their programmes.
“At OBIS, we are glad to reaffirm our joint commitment with GBIF to provide streamlined access to high-quality marine life information to halt and reverse biodiversity loss across the globe,” said Ward Appeltans, Head of OBIS Secretariat. “This collaboration directly supports the mission of the IOC to create and apply ocean knowledge, through marine observations, data management, science, capacity development and international cooperation towrds a healthy and resilient ocean.”
Finally, the agreement formalises OBIS and GBIF observer status across their governing bodies. A rolling annual action plan will structure joint activities under the updated strategy. “In light of the triple crisis humanity is facing, the world urgently needs reliable biodiversity data across all ecosystems,” said Katherine Tattersall, OBIS Co-Chair.
